


Exception

by pyrrhical (anoyo)



Category: Suits (TV)
Genre: Cussing, Drabble, M/M, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-05-04
Packaged: 2018-10-28 02:17:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10821681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anoyo/pseuds/pyrrhical
Summary: Harvey has a few rules that he's made a point of living by.





	Exception

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, there's a grammatical error in the summary. I'm not sorry.
> 
> This is a prompt fic, rescued from my email. Originally written 5/1/12.

Harvey has a few rules that he's made a point of living by. He's a successful man, and so far as he can tell, the world's most successful men are always interviewed, years into their successful retirements, and they always give deep, thoughtful rules to live by. It might be shallow, and vain, but Harvey wants to be able to do that someday. And, well, Harvey would never really deny being shallow and vain.

His first rule is to never, ever give less than 200%. If he's going to do something, he's going to fucking do it. No ifs, ands, or buts. He doesn't care if it's cliched or contrived, or what-the-fuck-ever, it's just how he operates. When you give less than better than your best, you walk away wondering, regretting, and Harvey Specter is not a man who regrets. 

Akin to his first rule, his second rule is to never pass up any opportunity, so long as the benefits outweigh the costs. New things give new perspective, and they make best become even better. All opportunities are learning experiences. No matter what they're opportunities for.

Harvey's third rule is to never look less than in control of any situation. When you look like you don't have it, you don't have it, simple as that. And Harvey always has it -- even when he doesn't. It's all a state of mind, and looking like you have it is part of that. 

Dressing right is a huge part of that, and that's Harvey's fourth rule. Always dress the part. When the part is Senior Partner of one of the most powerful law firms in the country, nothing less than custom designer will do. When the part is baseball game on a Sunday afternoon, designer jeans and leather shoes are as casual as Harvey will let himself fall. Always dress like you mean it.

Surround yourself with the right people is Harvey's fifth rule. If someone's falling fast, cut them loose. Tying yourself to someone on the downfall only drags you down with them. You can't be beholden to other people unless those people are going the same direction as you.

But Harvey's sixth rule is that once loyal, stay loyal. Unless something drastic happens, loyalty is something that someone gets to keep, regardless. People fuck up, but second chances aren't things you have to earn. Everyone deserves a second chance, and sometimes even third and fourth chances. That's what loyalty is. Loyalty engenders further loyalty, and that's something success and money can't buy. Only real life can build loyalty.

That said, once you have real loyalty -- real friendship, Harvey knows it is -- rule seven says no mixing business and pleasure. That is, no fucking friends. There are too many variables, and you can't know how it's going to end. It's better to let the loyalty stay that way, and not risk it on minimal pleasure. The cost/benefit analysis just doesn't allow for the opportunity to come together. It's one rule to live by that Harvey added after learning the hard way.

Harvey's rules have been added together over the years, through his own life experiences, and Harvey thinks they're pretty damn good. Donna's been there for the additions of three through seven, and he knows she agrees. Harvey thinks, when he thinks about these things, that Donna might follow Harvey's rules, too, and more power to her. If it wasn't so ethically off-limits that Harvey knows someone (Louis) would have him disbarred so fast his head would spin, Harvey would see to it that Donna saw one hell of a lot more of Pearson Hardman's profits than she currently does.

On the other hand, the first time he hears Harvey's rules, Mike laughs outright. Harvey kicks him out of his office, but later, when he asks what was so funny, and Mike replies, "Life isn't so black and white, Harvey," with a mocking smile, Harvey goes from annoyed to downright pissed.

Even later -- so much later that Harvey thinks oh with a sort of morbid fascination, so, so much later, and Harvey will chalk it up to the rules and maybe the game, because rules are always accompanied by a game -- Harvey says, "Maybe we'll just call this an exception."

Mike smiles, like he's humoring a child, says, "A nice little grey area, right?"

Harvey huffs, "Right."


End file.
